Reversed
by walkthepathofdaydreams
Summary: When Hotch is de-aged during a case, a lot more than just his age is reversed. Everyone's roles on the team have been cemented for a long time, and Reid is naturally labelled the baby of the group. But this break in plans decides that for once, he'll have to take on the parental role and Hotch will be the child this time (quite literally.)
1. Chapter 1

Everything was going so well. They had found out who the unsub was with 100% certainty, and he was very compliant when they went to arrest him. They didn't even need to talk him down.

That's exactly why they should have seen it coming. All of a sudden, the unsub struck Hotch with a syringe and he dropped to the ground. His tall frame made a thud as it hit the ground, and as melancholic a fact as it is, they had heard that sound hundreds of times. This time it was different, though, forever etched into their minds. It sounded louder, more pronounced, more _dramatic_. Certainly more life-altering.

Processing of the fact their leader had just been incapacitated was slowed as a powder was tossed at them. They all gasped, then cursed themselves for inhaling it with even more force than otherwise. Morgan recovered first, remembering he was the second-in-command. Rushing forward, he roughly grabbed the unsub and cuffed him, making sure the hard metal dug into the delicate skin on his wrist.

They were all panicking on the inside. What the hell were the dosed with? What the hell was _Hotch_ dosed with? Would he be okay? For goodness sakes, they weren't even sure if he was alive!

The others recomposed themselves and watched with wide eyes, even though they weren't surprised. Hell, they wanted to give the unsub, Williams, a rough treating, too. Morgan pushed the unsub towards Emily and JJ. "Get him out of here."

Rossi knelt down next to Aaron, checking his pulse, muttering, "thank god," when he felt that it was strong and steady. While Hotch's heartbeat was normal, Rossi's was still erratic and quickened with sheer panic.

Reid knew what his strong suits were and wandered over to the unsubs desk and picked up one of the notebooks. It was fancier than the others, leather bound instead of just a standard composition notebook. On the front it was engraved, "E. Williams," in neat cursive. Reid flipped through it speedily, snapping it shut only a few moments later. The noise made a deafening crack in the air, which was cause for concern. Usually Reid would gently shut books, so closing it with such force was definitely notable, a small tell that he was both anxious and angry.

"Morgan?" There was a worried quiver in his voice, which the others picked up on. It was their job to read behavior, after all.

"Yes?" False confidence laced his voice. On the inside he was in pure chaos mode, as their Unit Chief was incapacitated so it was all on _him_ to give out the orders. That was a lot of a responsibility.

"I think Williams cracked the code to de-aging and anti-aging solutions. And if he's correct, then I am almost certain that was what the liquid and the powder was, respectively." Reid seemed far too nonchalant for Rossi and Morgan's taste. They would have thought it was a joke, except they knew even their so-called 'socially oblivious' Reid knew what was appropriate and what wasn't. Plus, they knew that while Reid had trouble dealing with emotions, he could mask his feelings just as well as any of the others. He was acting composed, but on the inside he was feeling a range of emotions, none of which were calm.

Rossi piped in, "What the hell does that mean?"

"If he properly created what he meant to, which I believe he did, then Hotch will be, uh, turning into a child. And we will not age for a long time. Hell, if just one of us inhaled all that powder we'd be practically immortal. According to my calculations, we will all probably have our ageing process halted for the next twenty years." He could barely understand it, so it was a real shock for Morgan and Rossi who hadn't looked through the notebook. That probably wouldn't help their comprehension anyway, as it was filled with scrawlings of long, scientific words that sounded anything but elegant and complicated diagrams.

They glanced down at Aaron. They noticed that his wrinkles were already subsiding, and his hairline moved forward just a fraction of an inch. The dark circles under his eyes faded just a little. Reid recognized him to look like he had in his early BAU days. There was a difference, even if it was subtle.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. I mean, remember what the detective said, how the little girl looked exactly like her childhood best friend. What if it was? That's why they were all not reported missing, it's a lot easier for an adult to go missing than a child. I mean, as long as the victims were socially isolated and worked low-profile jobs. If he wanted to experiment, that would explain why it was such a humane killing. He couldn't leave witnesses, but he had no satisfaction from killing them."

There was a lull before Morgan nodded. "That makes sense."

"Okay, but where the hell do we go from here?"

If they were to go to a hospital, the story would blow up with a particularly loud and scandalous blast. Everyone would talk about it, not to mention the fact that many scientists would want to poke and prod them. It made the whole team sick, to think of being seen as a experiment by doctors, especially knowing that there would surely be sick people like Williams who would try to do it without their consent. Just the knowledge alone that this had drove a man to kill was enough for them to know better than to bring this into the public's bright, glaring spotlight.

After informing Prentiss and JJ of the developments, or lack thereof on Hotch's part, they all brainstormed what to do. After they threw around some ideas, some rather ridiculous like having Reid stand in as a doctor despite the fact they had all time and time again reminded him he wasn't _that_ kind of doctor, they finally settled on Morgan's brilliant idea of calling Dr. Kimura and asking her if she or a trusted colleague could check them out.

Reid shakily punched her number into his phone and tapped his foot anxiously as it rung. "Dr. Kimura speaking."

"It's Reid, Dr. Spencer Reid. I. . .my team and I have a situation and we know after the whole anthrax fiasco that you can be trusted with sensitive information and that you can handle intense pressure professionally."

"What's wrong?"

"An unsub drugged us with something we suspect to be his own experiment, and his notes suggest that Hotch was given something to reverse the aging process, and that myself and the others were given something to halt it. Judging by the fact Hotch is already looking a little younger, I think this may be more than theoretical."

"I'll need to see those notes. And I'll need to have someplace to meet you guys." He admired her ability to stay calm, act as though this was an everyday occurrence. Maybe it was for her.

"I can give you a photo, but I can't physically hand over evidence. If need be, I can copy it all down from memory, too. As for meeting you, would the hotel work?" He knew it wasn't ideal, but it was their only option.

"Yes. I look forward to seeing you, Dr. Reid. You can text me the address of the hotel, I may not be there for a while though. I suggest you check everyone's vitals every hour. I trust you know how to do that, even though you aren't a medical doctor," Dr. Kimura chuckled, attempting to add levity to the impossibly difficult situation.

When she arrived, Dr. Kimura got right down to business, practically pushing Reid to sit on the bed for an exam. It would have been humorous given other circumstances.

After assessing everyone to make sure they were okay besides the obvious, and looking through the notes, Dr. Kimura agreed with Reid. She said she'd have to run some more tests in the lab, and that she'd call them if anything unexpected came up in those.

"Agent Hotchner may be passed out for a long, possibly up to the next twenty two hours. Don't worry about that. I will keep in touch about the lab reports with you, Dr. Reid. For the rest of you, if you ever need a doctor, you come to me. Even just a common cold. We still don't know what we are dealing with, fully. That should be all."

 **A/N: This is going to be my first multi-chapter fanfiction. I decided to go for something a little outside of my comfort zone and went for a de-aging story. Of course, I put a twist on it (as Reid is usually the child in these fics, w/ Hotch as the step-in Dad.) Please give me some feedback on this, it'd be very appreciated.**

 **xoxo walkthepathofdaydreams**


	2. Chapter 2

They decided to send Prentiss and JJ to interview Williams. From what they said, he was sporting quite the ego. Add to that the fact he created an admittedly revolutionary aging solution, they knew he'd clash with Reid. He'd feel threatened by someone smarter than him. Morgan seemed far too stressed out about being interim Unit Chief in addition to everything else, so they decided he was in no position to interrogate. To their surprise, he easily agreed.

They made sure he was properly restrained and had no foreseeable tricks up his sleeve before starting. Still being compliant, they felt anxiousness grip all of them. Perhaps they misunderstood, and his complaisant nature wasn't just for show the first time. Prentiss and JJ erred on the side of caution, just in case.

After being asked if he knew why he was arrested, he gave a light chuckle. To be honest, Prentiss knew the question was unnecessary but it tended to give them an idea of what they were working with. "I have an understanding of many things, one of which is that others don't have an understanding of many things, myself being one of them. It was to be expected you'd all see it that way."

"Did you kill them? Anna and Stewart, James and Oliver, Allison and Jane, and Curtis and Brianna?" She knew she had to be specific, his type liked theatrics and could turn an apple to an orange in their mind.

"Yes. I'm truly sorry, but it was in the name of science. Speaking of, I'm surprised you've not yet asked about my studies. I do believe I got quite a bit of powder in your direction. Forgive me, but I couldn't give up my last opportunity for a final experiment. I hope you'll understand, I needed tangible proof my work wasn't in vain."

"Is that what you'd like to talk about? Your 'experiments.' Fine, I'll bite. Is there an antidote."

"No. My purpose for it did not call for that."

"You created this with a purpose?" JJ's brow furrowed. Everyone would like an anti-aging solution, but the way he said it hinted that he had ulterior motives suited more to the insane side of himself, not the scientist side.

"Yes. Now, I understand you are used to interrogating crazies, not geniuses. The former like to avoid things, but I know this is the bittersweet end for me. I'll be sentenced to time in jail, and I know you'll find that satisfying. But know one thing: You can't imprison my mind."

"What was the purpose?" Prentiss leaned forward and crossed her arms.

"My wife, may she rest in peace, was murdered. Violently. They said that the killer was severely abused, as if that makes any of this right. I of course can't go back to save my wife, but I can prevent this from happening. The de-aging serum was for the to-be killers, the abused. I couldn't figure out how to get the mixture to stop at a certain age, so I decided that their future stand-in parents would just have to have their aging halted. They were meant to have a second shot at childhood."

"And you killed them when they didn't comply?"

"Yes."

"The dosage you gave us, barring Agent Hotchner, was estimated to halt our aging process for twenty years. Would you say that's correct?"

"Yes. Good work, I must say. As for Hotchner, assuming he's the one in the suit, he'll turn back to whatever his age is now when he 'turns 18', so to speak."

On the other side of the glass, Reid bit his lip. He took a moment to process this information before turning on his heel to step outside.

He called Morgan and Rossi, knowing they'd want an update. They were at the hotel, trying to calm each other down in a haze of anxiety. Plus, they needed to watch over Hotch. Usually that'd be a one man job, but they still seemed a little out of it.

"What's up? Any news?"

"Yes. Apparently Hotch will turn back in eighteen years from now. We also have some information regarding his motivations."

"Oh goodness. What is it?"

"His wife was killed by an abuse victim. His solution was to try to give them better childhoods, literally. As for us, he wanted living proof of his advancements in science."

"Yeah, one last hurrah before he's dragged away in cuffs," Rossi said sarcastically. He let out a sigh before saying, "I'll pass that information on to Morgan. On your way back you might want to pick up some baby stuff, Aaron will wake up soon. Just the essentials, we can work on other things once we decide who'll take him."

"Who'll take him?"

"We'll have to discuss it when you, Prentiss and JJ get back. We can't let him go into foster care. I'd take him before I'd let that happen, even if it's not ideal."

"That makes sense," Reid said. It felt very uncomfortable, discussing who was going to be his bosses guardian. He imagined what Hotch would look like, as a vulnerable child. Before he was hardened by the day in and day out of working around criminals in varying degrees of intimacy.

"Try to be back soon. I'll see you in a while." Reid walked back inside the police station, putting on his best professional face even though inside, he felt like he was the one turned into a child. Overwhelming need to ask, 'why?' Check. Flurry of emotions? Check. Desire to scream at the top of his lungs? Check.

Even if they wanted to act like children, they couldn't. One thing was certain: They would all need to step-up, one more so than the others. At the end of the night, one would be in charge of a baby.

He wondered if he wanted to know. This morning he would have been intrigued by the idea of reversing the aging process. He had it answered, and he certainly wished there was a handy-dandy solution to reverse that.


	3. Chapter 3

The team decided that the next morning they would wake up early and discuss how to proceed, along with what Prentiss and JJ learned during the interview. The men sat on the edge of the bed while the ladies took the chair from the desk and the extra from the corner of the room. "First things first, during the interview we learned some things that may complicate this further," Prentiss said with an air of calmness and professionalism that felt out of place. Her demeanor seemed more fit for a discussion of budget cuts.

"What?" Morgan ran his hand over his head and then rubbed his neck, eyes squeezed shut in frustration.

"As we discussed, for the next eighteen years he will develop from newborn to infant to toddler to child to teenager, as anyone else would. Then, he will change back to the age he was yesterday, instead of that plus eighteen years. Until then, he'll have no recollection of anything. He'll have no memories of us."

"That certainly does complicate things," Rossi said. "I suppose this means I can't be the one to take him. I mean people would think I'm a creep if I had a kid at this age." He was right, they'd assume he had a much younger lover. That doesn't seem like much of a big deal, but surely once Aaron was older he'd feel the need to investigate.

"Yes. And I can't really either, I mean I have children of my own to take care of," JJ stated apologetically.

Prentiss and Morgan looked at each other, because to them they were the only options left. Reid wasn't even considered, forever etched into their minds as the shy twenty-two year old he once was. Prentiss and Morgan were desperate for the other to say that they'd take on the job.

"I'll do it." In retrospect, he could see why he said that. He didn't have a degree in Psychology for nothing.

Spencer felt responsible for this. Of course, it makes no sense upon first inspection, but if you look closer it makes more sense than the majority of the things he says. It's no secret that he sympathetic towards more unsubs than most. He never justifies their actions, and he doubts that the people Williams claims did had either. Williams is an unreliable narrator, clearly. His wife's death had broken him, broken his psyche. His vulnerable mind had misinterpreted their statements, making them appear more exaggerated to him.

It's because he didn't expect it. When someone is murdered, no one ever expects someone to make a victim out of a vile monster. It hit him out of nowhere, increasing the effect tenfold.

While Reid hadn't given any thoughts on the specific person who had murdered Mrs. Williams, he could bet that if anyone else could find it in their heart to humanize the unsub, he probably would have too. Not to mention the fact that he had done it with countless other unsubs, almost setting an example.

"Are you sure about that, Spence?" JJ knew Reid was good with Henry, but playing with a child and having one of your own were two very different things, with varying levels of responsibility.

"Yes. I'm certain. Prentiss and Morgan clearly don't want to, and they are the most viable options besides me. I can do this."

"Kid. . ."

"I'm not a kid." Reid rarely corrected him on it at this point, but he had to assert his maturity in this case. "Hotch needs a guardian who wants to take care of him, someone who isn't just doing it out of obligation. Children require nurturing, and if you guys don't have your heart in it, there'll be a difference. Even if you love him, you won't be able to provide completely for him."

"He's got a point," JJ said.

"I have an extra room at my place already. I certainly have enough money, as I have multiple sources of income. I have experience with children from Henry. I don't go out much, so I could provide attention. I can do this."

There was a moment of silence before JJ said, "Any objections?" Fortunately, the silence continued on, everyone agreeing that Reid would be the best choice to be Hotch's guardian. "Okay then. I've got connections, I can have his birth certificate and other documents by tonight."

 **A/N: I am so so so sorry that this took so long to update. I was having a lot of tech troubles recently, but lord be willing and the creek don't rise, it should be smooth sailing from now on. Thank you to all those who reviewed this story, its very appreciated. I love y'all.**

 **xoxo walkthepathofdaydreams**


	4. Chapter 4

**NOTE, PLEASE READ: I'm so sorry about the wait. Right after my computer was fixed last time we had some more issues which essentially resulted me losing all my work for this fic and having lost access to the site. I'm going to have to rewrite a lot, and so future updates might be slow. Especially because like with all de-aged fanfic, it's mostly fluff which is slower to write for me personally.**

They all agreed that what would be best for Aaron was to let him get settled before 'introducing' him to all the team members. Despite the fact he was a baby and didn't completely understand the concept, they didn't want to overwhelm the poor thing.

Finally after six long months for everyone involved, especially Reid, he agreed that maybe they should have a get together. JJ was saying how she was bringing Henry to the beach, and Reid said that maybe he'd bring Aaron along. The whole team jumped at it, all exclaiming that it was a great idea.

At around 12 o'clock, Reid got out of the car with his baby bag, equipped with all the essentials, another bag, and of course, Aaron. Garcia wanted to raise a question about what was in the second bag, as it was just a normal tote, but knew that Reid always had a trick up his sleeve and she'd surely find out in time.

Aaron looked absolutely darling, earning many coos from the women, and even the men couldn't seem to hold back a grin. He was wearing orange swim trunks, with a blue swim shirt with a whale on it. The outfit was completed by a straw hat. Reid was holding him on his hip, and it suddenly hit the others how grown up Reid looked.

"Oh my goodness gracious," Penelope gasped. "Can I hold him?"

"Of course." Reid handed him to her, Aaron gently kicking his legs in the air.

"Dada," Aaron squealed once Penelope was holding him. He whimpered and started to cry, repeating, "dada," over and over. Penelope immediately handed him back.

"Shh," Reid whispered as he bounced Aaron up and down. Once Aaron calmed down a little, he looked up. "Sorry, he must just be a little nervous, to him you're new."

"Of course," Penelope said. She, along with the others, were shocked when Aaron called Reid "dada." It hit them how real this situation was, they finally had the full grasp. Reid was essentially their bosses dad now.

To change the subject Prentiss asked what was in the second bag. "An inflatable pool, an air pump, and some toys. He can't go in the ocean, but I figured we could use his pail to put some water in the pool and let him sit in it."

"That's smart. Is he wearing sunscreen?" She just wanted to make sure Reid had protected the little ones skin.

Reid looked a little offended at first, but quickly said, "Yes. I put some on him before we left." Aaron started grabbing at Spencer's hair and gently tugging.

"Okay, just wanted to be sure."

About an hour later they were lounging out on the sand, the hot rays of sun beating down on them harshly. Reid sat on the ground next to Aaron's little pool, playing with a toy boat and making little sound effects resulting in Aaron clapping his small hands together and giggling. Nobody missed the wince when Reid bent down, no doubt a resistance from his bad knee. Still, it was worth putting a smile on Aaron's face.

Suddenly, Aaron started shrieking and crying. Reid looked to ponder for a minute before saying, "Are you hungry?" Aaron's eyes widened and he shook his head yes.

Spencer pulled over his baby bag and grabbed a towel before lifting Aaron out of the small pool. He sat him down on his lap before pulling some banana puffs out. Morgan handed him a paper plate, and Reid poured a few of the puffs onto it. He grabbed one and placed it in aaron's mouth, who smiled contentedly. "Yu, dada."

"Is it yummy?" Aaron shook his head yes and giggled, before reaching toward the plate. Reid got another one and fed it to him.

"You're really good with him," JJ commented.

"Thanks, I mean I have spent the past half a year with him." Reid knew he was being snarky, but annoyance twinged under the surface. She wouldn't say that to any other parent, so why would she say it to him. All that reminded him was of the fact that Aaron wasn't his and that in eighteen years he'd have to give up the boy he had developed passionate paternal love for. Most parents dreaded the day their child became of age because they'd proverbially no longer be theirs, but with Reid and Aaron that was the literal case and it stung like hell.

"I know, but it can be hard to pick up the whole baby thing, especially when it comes so unexpectedly," JJ defended, realizing she had misstepped in her last comment.

Reid sighed, thinking of how to respond when Aaron started crying again. Saved by the bell, more like saved by the high pitched screech. In under a minute, he settled Aaron back down again.


	5. Chapter 5

If it wasn't already clear enough by Aaron's dull demeanor that he wasn't in a good mood, it was glaringly obvious when his nanny declined the offer to stay for dinner (which was usually suggested by Aaron, but instead had to be offered by Spencer this time) on the basis of Aaron not being in the greatest mood and the fact that some time alone with his father was probably the best thing for him at the moment. She rarely didn't have dinner with them, so Reid was shocked when Aaron didn't immediately beg for her to stay, and then only half-heartedly saying bye when she left.

Aaron pushed his food around on his plate, holding his chin on his hand with his elbow leaned on the table. Spencer didn't think the sad look on his face belonged on a seven year old, especially _his_ seven year old. "How was school?"

"Fine," Aaron sighed, effectively ending that topic of conversation.

"How's your food?" Now _Spencer_ was biting his lip and pushing his food around, confused on what he should be saying.

"It's good."

"Oh, okay. Maybe you should, uh, eat up then." Spencer scratched the back of his head and pursed his lips, clearly out of his element. All Aaron did was take one more bite before continuing to play with his food. "Did something happen at school, Aaron? You look a little...upset."

Aaron stared down at his feet, not wanting his Dad to see the tears in his eyes. "Why don't I have a mommy?"

Spencer froze like a Greek statue. It would have been a comical sight, his bulging eyes, his eyebrows drawn together like ornate velvet curtains, and his fork halfway to his mouth. The silence would have made it all the more humorous. Luckily, the tension was cut with a knife. Quite literally. Spencer dropped his fork and knife, and Aaron took that as an opportunity to raise his eyebrow and give a, "Go on," look.

"Uh, well...it's complicated. Some kids don't have mommies and—"

"I _know_ that already. Angela doesn't have a mommy, but she has two daddies instead. But I only have one daddy, and everyone else gets a mommy _and_ a daddy. How come?"

Spencer doubted the fact he was the only kid with a single parent, then remembered that Aaron attended a private school with very small classes and most of the parents were rich and well-observed members of society who couldn't get divorced in fear of wrecking their career (after all, most were politicians or in some other type of upper-class field.) He felt horrible upon that realization, thinking maybe it was a bad idea to take Aaron. He needed two parents, _clearly_ ; Reid of all people should get that. Reid tried his hardest and loved Aaron and gave him all the attention he could. He doubted those other parents did that. On the other side of the coin, he couldn't help but notice he didn't exactly come out fine on the other side of growing up with a single-parent, no matter how hard his mother loved him and tried to be a good parent. But this was different his mother was ill and he's not ( _yet_ , his mind couldn't help but supply.)

Eventually his thoughts came back to the lack of a parent, specifically his and how he dealt with that. Despite being a genius, it took him an awful long time to realize he has a degree in Psychology, and perhaps he's going about this all wrong. To get to the root of the problem, he went into full psychologist mode. "How come you're asking this Aaron? Why now?"

"In art we were supposed to be making Mother's Day cards." Reid hadn't thought of that, seeing as how Mother's Day was a month away. Then again, Aaron only had art class once a week, and it was possible the teacher had other things scheduled. Still, Reid's heart absolutely broke over his son's experience, feeling like he should have prepared him better for this. Making Mother's Day cards in school was a common activity, he should have known to handle it beforehand. Especially considering he could quite clearly remember the feeling of being a young child and having to sheepishly inform his English teacher his father wasn't present, so he couldn't write the Father's Day poem they were doing in class that day. Ever since then he had an aversion to parent-themed school activities.

"Oh. Well, what did you and Angela make?" Okay, asking a question was definitely his way of diverting the conversation, but in his defense, Aaron was easily distracted and it was likely this could take his mind off the issue at hand.

"Mrs. Holmes said we could just make our aunty or grandma a card. I made one for Egg, because she's sort of like an aunty." Reid was glad Aaron's nanny, fondly dubbed Egg, was close with him. They called her Egg because when she started as Aaron's nanny, she kept calling Reid 'sir' and was continually told it was weird and unnecessary. Eventually she started to do it more as a joke than out of respect, and one day Reid jokingly said, "I'm going to tire of hearing that and fire you one day." She responded that she'd still call him that, to which he said it'd make no sense if he wasn't in an authoritative position. She took this as an opportunity to say it could just be an articulation of his initials. He just donned a grin and said, "Okay, Egg," doing the same to her initials, EG.

"Did she like it?"

"I didn't give it to her," Aaron frowned. "I was mad and so I pressed too hard with my crayon and it came out all wrong."

"Oh that's too bad, she would have loved it anyway. Maybe you can make her a new one."

"Yeah," Aaron brightened up a little at the prospect.

"How about after supper we get the crayons and make a new one together, how about that?"

Aaron smiled, finally. "Yeah! I'll use green, 'cause it's her favorite, and blue because it's my favorite."

"Good idea," Reid chuckled. On the inside, he breathed a sigh of relief, thankful he properly distracted Aaron from his lack of a mother. Reid knew it wouldn't be out of his head for a long time, yet he'd probably still have trouble with having a plan for the day where he _couldn't_ successfully avoid the conversation. He just hoped it was a long way down the road, and that until then he could still easily distract Aaron from his sadness with something as simple as coloring. He knew the innocence, and ignorance about the situation, would not last forever.

 **A/N: New chapter! I hope you liked it. Sorry it's so short. That's all I guess. xoxo walkthepathofdaydreams**


	6. Chapter 6

With a raised eyebrow and a look of curiosity only a child can exhibit, Aaron cavalierly asked, "Are you guys dating?"

Spencer clumsily dropped his fork as his hand went slack and sputtered, "I, uh, what?"

Meanwhile, Egg chuckled and slammed her hand down on the table, clearly finding Aaron's innocent question a hoot and a half. "Your dad _wishes_ , Aaron," she said with a wink.

"I- no, no, I don't!" He said looking horrifically embarrassed as he stared at the two of them. His cheeks and ears were burning red in contrast to his pale skin.

"Way to make a girl feel special, _sir_." He knew she wasn't seriously offended seeing as she still held a smug smirk.

"I think she was joking, Daddy." Aaron loudly laughed at him, used to how socially awkward his father could be at this point.

"I get that now. And I'm sorry, I didn't mean to, uh, object so harshly."

Egg shook her head, grin growing wider. "Well," she sighed dramatically, "you absolutely sure you don't have a crush on me. I mean, you _did_ object pretty hard. I think the genius doth protest too much."

"Of course, that'd be unprofessional." Egg thought about pointing out that this was a nannying job, not an official workplace, but saw that Aaron was getting frustrated about not being included in the grown-up conversation.

"Sorry, Ronnie, your dad and I are strictly on a sir-Egg relationship." This made Aaron giggle, showing his new teeth.

"That's okay, dating is icky anyway. It just looked like you were doing the fluttering thing, and Maddie says that grown-ups do that when they like each other or are dating. Do you guys like each other?"

"I think you mean flirting," Reid interjected, earning him a mumbled, "oh yeah."

"So you guys don't like each other in a crush way?"

"No," Reid replied. This was enough for Aaron, who continued eating his mac and cheese and babbling on about his school day and how he, Maddie and Angela were the winning team at hide and seek.

After dinner, Egg dried the dishes while Reid washed, just as always. They never switched, because Egg didn't want to ruin her nails, which always inevitably happened when she washed the dishes, and claimed that hot water should be good for his gun-callused hands. He accepted the cop-out for what it was. This time, though, the banter was replaced with an awkward silence. She could tell Reid was uncomfortable, not because his cheeks lit up red like a stoplight, but because there was a stillness to his complexion. The corners of his mouth didn't twitch into a tight line, his teeth didn't worry his lip between themselves, his eyebrows didn't draw up like a tight knot. He was a master at hiding his emotions, but it was always his greatest tell for those who knew to look for it.

She understood why he was embarrassed of course. In her eyes, he had always lacked a certain finesse with women, even if he got better at handling their attention as he got older. But for them, having known each other as long as they had, it was simply weird. Every person who had stuck with him as long as she had earned a familial bond in his heart, so by every account they should be like siblings. That, when added to the fact he was terrible at handling emotions, equated to the tension that was filling the room.

Just because she understood didn't mean it didn't frustrate her.

"Jeez, get yourself together." If she was being honest, it sort of slipped from her lips. Still, she'd never admit to that lack of control.

"What?" Reid's eyes went wide, and he turned his head to look at her.

"You're acting like a damn child. Hell, Aaron seems to have more sense than you! Yeah, I get it, what he said was awkward, get over it."

He stared at her, mouth open at the sheer audacity of her words. But, before he could help it, he felt his lips pressed together to stop himself from grinning. In the end, his laughter won over and escaped his lips. Once his chuckling died down, he turned back to the dishes, still smirking. "That was certainly blunt."

"Have I ever claimed to be anything else?"

"No, I suppose not," he sighed. "Listen, I'm sorry. I just didn't want to be unprofessional, but in hindsight, it's probably more unprofessional to have ignored it."

"Eh, it's fine. I just didn't want to sit there and watch you get stuck in a loop of perceived embarrassment. It was more for your benefit."

"Thanks," Reid said sarcastically.

"Don't you use that tone with me, _sir_."

"Remember, I'm the boss, so how about you not use that tone with _me_."

"You sure are the boss," she said with a wink.

"You love to torture me, don't you?"

"More than a serial killer on death row." As morbid as it was, it earned a chuckle out of him. They always joked the thing that made her most employable was that she could always draw a smile out of him. It was a good dynamic to have, especially for them. They both needed a little light in their life.

 **A/N: I've had this written for like two weeks and somehow thought I had already posted it. So yeah, sorry this is coming to you a little late. Hope you enjoy!**


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